EMvTW 155 - Vulcan Survey Vessel D'Vahl

NOTE:  You can click on most pictures to get a larger view of them.

Rewrites: NONE YET

First Contact Day is a holiday celebrated to honor both the warp 1 flight of the Phoenix and first open contact between Humans and Vulcans on April 5th, 2063 in Bozeman, Montana.

We later find out in the second season of Star Trek: Enterprise that the Vulcans had actually visited Earth before then, between October, 1957 and January, 1958.  We also learn that the visit, and the extended stay was not intentional.

For this issue of Eaglemoss vs. The World, we are going to take a look at the D'Vahl.

We first get to see this starship in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode called "Carbon Creek", where it went to Earth to rescue the three Vulcans who were stranded there..


Per Memory Alpha and Beta, "The D'Vahl was a Vulcan survey ship that was in service with the Vulcan High Command in the mid-20th century. In 1958, the D'Vahl was under the command of Captain Tellus.  In January of that year, the D'Vahl visited Earth to rescue any survivors of a survey ship that crashed there."

If you would like to read more official stuff on this type of ship, feel free to check out the following links:

D'Vahl Class Information: Memory Alpha LINK and Memory Beta LINK
D'Vahl Information: Memory Alpha LINK and NO Memory Beta LINK

Since we also see these ships in the second episode of season four of Star Trek: Enterprise, it can be assumed that these types of ships were in Vulcan service for a very long time (over 197 years).  

 

 

 

 

Upon first glance, the ship has a squid like appearance. 

Photo Credit: The Guardian

It is interesting that the earliest example of a Vulcan ship sort of also gives a premonition of the futuristic Jellyfish starship that we are introduced to in Star Trek (2009).

 

                                                            Photo Credit: WCVB

The paintwork on this model is pretty straight forward with the majority of the ship being painted that copper/orange brown color that all other Vulcan ships from this era are painted.

     

Eaglemoss also did a nice job doing some weathering of the model, including scorch marks around some of the thruster ports.  While this does break up the monotony of an otherwise boring colored ship, they could have done a better job of aligning those scorch marks with their corresponding molded details.

Eaglemoss painted some windows on their model to give us a sense of scale, however, the paint for these also do not align with their molded details.

It has been quite a while since I have seen Eaglemoss have this misalignment problem.  It is disappointing to see that they backslid and starting doing that again.

I was going to complain about how the magazine shows the engine pods glowing with this nice vibrant yellow and tell you all about how the model's engines were missing that same glowing effect.  As I was positioning the model to take a nice beauty shot of this problem, I then noticed that Eaglemoss had indeed highlighted the engines in the form of clear yellow plastics.

While this was a "cool factor" for the model, the problem is that the plastics are recessed so far into the pods that you don't know that they are present unless you go looking for them with a proper light source.

The sculpt and mold work on this model are acceptable.  The top side of the ship doesn't boast as much detail and those details are a bit softer in their presentation.  I think the details are still clear enough that I won't file them into the Eaglemoss Melted Marshmallow Syndrome category (definition at the end of the article), but I think they could have been better defined.

I think that I feel a bit let down about the details on the top because the details on the bottom of the model are much more defined.

Other than the previously mentioned clear yellow plastics, I felt that Eaglemoss did a good job rendering those external engine pods.

Finally, the join seams are blended well into the natural curves and lines of the model making it much harder to spot them.

And that is all the pictures and comparisons I have to share on this ship at this time.  As for pricing, I will continue with the tradition of rounding up the most inexpensive Buy-It-Now prices from eBay at the time of this article's writing (June 2020).

Eaglemoss = $28

NOTE: Prices were researched last on June 18th, 2020.  As of the writing of this article, you can also currently order the Eaglemoss model right from the company's US WebStore for around $25 (shipping unknown).

When buying my Eaglemoss models through third parties like on eBay, I feel comfortable paying up to around $30 for the Standard Line of models.  That being said, this one falls right into that range.  I'm glad for this because I wasn't super impressed with the model.  It is a nice representation of the Vulcan ship, however, it just doesn't install the "Wow" feelings in me.  I suppose if you are a super fan of Vulcan ships, or you are a completionist and want to add on to your Vulcan fleet, then the model will suffice and won't be a disappointment.  I don't dislike the model, I just think it could have been slightly better.

As always, I hope you found this article useful and informative.  If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please feel free to comment below.

So for now, "Live long and prosper!!!"



Definitions
EMMS = Eaglemoss Melted Marshmallow Syndrome.  This is best described as a softening of details where they appear more rounded, less edgy and a bit out of focus.  Sort of what happens to a marshmallow as you heat it up to it's melting point on a camp fire.

Additional Links To Photos Of My Collection:

Eaglemoss

Other Reviewers Take On The Eaglemoss Model:
Some Kind Of Star Trek